Our 2024 Chicago Trip by the Numbers

We just spent four days in Chicago for fall break, and y’all, we loved it SO MUCH.  I knew I’d love it because I will forever love a big city, but I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did.  We had the best trip, and I cannot wait to recap every little detail for y’all.  Until then, here’s one of my famous “by the numbers” posts to give y’all some ideas of how the trip went…

593 – Miles flown there.

35,977 – Maximum altitude reached on our flight there.

2298 – Our flight number from ATL to ORD.

606 – Miles flown back.

2290 – Our flight number from ORD to ATL.

36,000 – Max altitude reached on our flight home.

53 – The lowest temperature while we were there.

81 – The highest temperature while we were there, but thankfully, that was only one day.  The other days maxed out in the upper 60’s and it was perfect.  Quintessential fall weather.

11,821 – Steps walked on Wednesday, Day 1.  We were sitting in a car, sitting in an airport, sitting on a plane, sitting in an Uber, and sitting on a train for most of the day, so I’m honestly surprised that we got this many steps!

4.51 – Miles walked on Wednesday, Day 1.

17,327 – Steps walked on Thursday, Day 2. 

6.93 – Miles walked on Thursday, Day 2.

24,241 – Steps walked on Friday, Day 3.  This may be my all-time record for most steps in a single day!  Pretty sure we haven’t ever walked this many steps in a single day… even in NYC or Disney World!

9.41 – Miles walked on Friday, Day 3.

8,745 – Steps walked on Saturday, Day 4.  That day was just a travel day, so most of the day was spent sitting in the Uber, in the airport, on the plane, and in the car on the way home.

3.29 – Miles walked on Saturday, Day 4.

2 – Times we rode the Metra.  Once from Chicago to the suburbs and once back to Chicago from the suburbs.

9 – Ubers taken during the trip.

38 – Minutes spent on the Metra (train) to Winnetka to see the Home Alone house.

11 – Stops from Chicago to Winnetka on the Metra.

0.3 – Mile walk from the train station to the Home Alone house.

84,000 – Times I said, “I want to live here!!” while we were in Winnetka.  OMG, it was the cutest little town ever.

1 – Time we saw Harry and Marv in their van on the street by the Home Alone house.  LOL.  But seriously, we totally saw a van that looked JUST LIKE their van driving slowly along the street.  It was white, though, not baby blue like Harry and Marv’s, and they weren’t plumbers.  They were… get this… professional Christmas light installers.  LOLOLOLOL.  It was perfection.

53 – Minutes spent in Winnetka, and I could have spent a whole day there.  We wanted to get back to Chicago in time to make it to the observatory before dusk, so we didn’t stay long.  And about half of that time was spent just staring at the Home Alone house in awe.  I still can’t believe we saw it in person.

103 – Floors we went up while we were in Skydeck Chicago (the observatory in Willis – Sears – Tower).

1,353 – Feet we went up for Skydeck Chicago, officially breaking our record of 1,300 when we went to the One Vanderbilt Summit Observatory in NYC.

90 – Seconds spent on The Ledge (the glass walkout in Skydeck Chicago).

1.5 – Inches of glass that holds you up while you’re literally hanging out over the city 1,353 feet down below.  It’s a little unsettling when you think about it like that.  Haha.

10 – Adult beverages consumed on the trip.

4 – Of those adult beverages that were free!  We stayed at Embassy Suites, and they have a happy hour every night for their guests that includes an open bar and snacks.

4 – Floors in the Starbucks that we visited on day two.  It’s the largest Starbucks in the world!

$8.94 – The cost for a tall (small) pumpkin spice latte at the largest Starbucks in the world.  They serve their special “Reserve” coffee there so it’s way more expensive.  It was probably the best PSL I’ve ever had, too, and when on vacation you do all the things!  No regrets. 

70-ish – Percent of the time that I closed my eyes while we rode Flyover Chicago.  It was so fast and spinny and breathtaking (in a bad way – haha) that I was terrified it was going to mess with my vertigo, so I closed my eyes for most of it and took peeks here and there.

0 – Times Brian and the kids closed their eyes on the ride.  They all LOVED it.

$20 – Bill that Brian found on the sidewalk in Chicago!  It was literally just laying on the sidewalk and nobody was around.  We stood there for a few minutes trying to see if anyone was coming back for it, but nobody ever did.  Plus, it was windy, so who even knows where it had come from!

8 – Donuts bought and (mostly) consumed.  I left half of one of mine because I was too full to eat both.

5:15 – Hours and minutes spent with my blog friend, Emily, and her husband, Jess.  We were so excited to finally meet for the first time, and we enjoyed spending the entire afternoon together!  Our time together was way too short and we are already trying to figure out when we can see each other again.

3 – Times that somebody randomly yelled, “GO DAWGS!” to us in Chicago.  We also got a few in the airport in Atlanta but we didn’t count those since we were in our home territory.  (Jacob wore Georgia stuff almost every day, so that’s how they knew we were fans.)

Hundreds – Of Chicago marathon runners that we saw training on Saturday.  When we booked our trip, we had no clue that the Chicago marathon was on Sunday (the day after we left), but we were grateful to be out of there before then because we didn’t want to have to deal with all of the road closures and such.

Countless – Revolving doors that we saw/went through.  I asked Emily about it because I thought it was so odd that most of the doors in Chicago are revolving doors, and she said that it’s because of the weather.  That way the wind won’t blow regular doors open or keep doors open and let it get cold and drafty inside.

408 – Pictures taken on the trip (and that total is after I deleted all of the bad ones).

66 – Videos taken on the trip (again, that was after I deleted the bad ones).

100 – Stories uploaded to Instagram.  Follow along in the story highlight in my bio.

0 – Times we were asked if the kids were twins. 

2 – Times that I teared up on the trip – once when I saw the Home Alone house for the first time, and once when I saw Emily for the first time.

I’ll be recapping the trip soon, and my goodness, do I have SO MUCH to tell you, so stay tuned, y’all!

Happy Wednesday!!